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By Neil Watson of A&H Magazine
I’ve traveled the world and had the opportunity to learn a great deal through my camera lens. But it’s when the camera is put away and the conversation opens up that I've found the most lasting experiences - intimate, intangible, and most meaningful in reflection.
Sometimes simple actions or simple conversations ask - or answer - big questions. This is a series about momentary connections and what they say about style, about clothes - and about the people who wear them.
BRYAN FOSHAY:
Quiet confidence and great taste in rum are not typical markers of someone's personality traits - I don’t even know if the rum thing qualifies as a personality trait. But Bryan is a one of a kind. He is passionate about clothing, but not in a contrived or materialistic way. No - he's surprisingly calm about his many interests. It could have been the Florida sun, or the strong slushy cocktail we consumed at Wet Willies; but listening to him speak about his wife, and his upcoming title change to "father," made me think about how I approach things. If this guy could be so calm about everything he had going on, and sip on this slushy as if he was on vacation, then maybe I should take a harder look at my own worries.
Be like Bryan, I said. Be cool, like the ice in your Bahama Mama Daiquiri.
QUENTIN WASHINGTON:
Talk about people you never see on sovereign soil – Quentin is the one friend I only ever meet with overseas, yet we live an hour’s plane ride from each other. Art Basel was the perfect excuse for us to both be in Miami, and it was great to catch up again. Quentin just started a new position a few months back dictating to a boardroom full of press executives the do’s and don'ts of our generation. They should listen, since he’s been at the forefront of cool for a while now. I mean, come on, I first met the guy in Florence, where he was striking up a conversation with a who's who of upper-crust Italian clothing dudes (pun very much intended on the pizza front). He is also the only guy I know who can wear all black in the Miami sun and not break a sweat. Maybe he’s not human – it would explain why he’s so out of this world (okay, that was an even worse pun).
DANIEL NOVELA:
Lawyer by day, sartorial craft aficionado by evening - and then even later in the night, host to one of the most exclusively swank, crème de la crème of Miami hot spots. Daniel showed me the only cool part of Soho Beach House, and it wasn’t easy to find. It’s a huge white tent with a full bar on the beach. And his penchant for really cool things led him to create his own line of sport-coats under the sort-of-eponymous name "Casa de Novela." Daniel even created a patent pending pocket design for the thing - it houses the arm portion of your sunglasses, without ruining the chest pocket for your hanky or hand-sewn pocket square of French silk – if you’re into that sort of thing. With all that said, he’s still one of the most down to earth people I’ve ever met. And that’s taking into consideration that I’ve met people underground - literally.
I’ve traveled the world and had the opportunity to learn a great deal through my camera lens. But it’s when the camera is put away and the conversation opens up that I've found the most lasting experiences - intimate, intangible, and most meaningful in reflection.
Sometimes simple actions or simple conversations ask - or answer - big questions. This is a series about momentary connections and what they say about style, about clothes - and about the people who wear them.
BRYAN FOSHAY:
Quiet confidence and great taste in rum are not typical markers of someone's personality traits - I don’t even know if the rum thing qualifies as a personality trait. But Bryan is a one of a kind. He is passionate about clothing, but not in a contrived or materialistic way. No - he's surprisingly calm about his many interests. It could have been the Florida sun, or the strong slushy cocktail we consumed at Wet Willies; but listening to him speak about his wife, and his upcoming title change to "father," made me think about how I approach things. If this guy could be so calm about everything he had going on, and sip on this slushy as if he was on vacation, then maybe I should take a harder look at my own worries.
Be like Bryan, I said. Be cool, like the ice in your Bahama Mama Daiquiri.
QUENTIN WASHINGTON:
Talk about people you never see on sovereign soil – Quentin is the one friend I only ever meet with overseas, yet we live an hour’s plane ride from each other. Art Basel was the perfect excuse for us to both be in Miami, and it was great to catch up again. Quentin just started a new position a few months back dictating to a boardroom full of press executives the do’s and don'ts of our generation. They should listen, since he’s been at the forefront of cool for a while now. I mean, come on, I first met the guy in Florence, where he was striking up a conversation with a who's who of upper-crust Italian clothing dudes (pun very much intended on the pizza front). He is also the only guy I know who can wear all black in the Miami sun and not break a sweat. Maybe he’s not human – it would explain why he’s so out of this world (okay, that was an even worse pun).
DANIEL NOVELA:
Lawyer by day, sartorial craft aficionado by evening - and then even later in the night, host to one of the most exclusively swank, crème de la crème of Miami hot spots. Daniel showed me the only cool part of Soho Beach House, and it wasn’t easy to find. It’s a huge white tent with a full bar on the beach. And his penchant for really cool things led him to create his own line of sport-coats under the sort-of-eponymous name "Casa de Novela." Daniel even created a patent pending pocket design for the thing - it houses the arm portion of your sunglasses, without ruining the chest pocket for your hanky or hand-sewn pocket square of French silk – if you’re into that sort of thing. With all that said, he’s still one of the most down to earth people I’ve ever met. And that’s taking into consideration that I’ve met people underground - literally.
